This is the theme of an exciting, multi-year project I have undertaken to and lecture about music at the 18th-century court of Frederick “the Great,” and to create first editions and CD recordings of flute music in his circle.

2014 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and I will be offering a number of contributions, including performances, articles and lectures.

The year 2012 marked the 300th anniversary of the king’s birth and occasioned a number of events and recordings in which I participated. So far, Project Sanssouci includes five CD releases (see the Discography). If you wish to play any of this music, look for my editions in the publications page, especially the first edition of four previously inaccessible sonatas by Frederick “the Great,” published by Breitkopf & Härtel.

My feature article “Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and the Flute” has just appeared in the summer 2014 issue of Flutist Quarterly — celebrating the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

In April 2014 I was chosen to edit the next volume of Bach Perspectives (vol. 11), entitled J.S. Bach and his Sons. The American Bach Society has issued a call for essays, and the deadline for the receipt of submissions for this volume is Sept. 1, 2o14.

Recently Released CD:

In July 2013 Naxos released my world premier CD recording of unknown flute concertos by Johann Joachim Quantz and Frederick “the Great”, performed with Miklos Spanyi and Concerto Armonico, including one lost concerto I recovered from Russia. This recording has received critical acclaim and features 18th-century cadenzas written down in one of the concertos. It explores the contrast between the dramatic, Dresden court orchestral-style scoring of Quantz’s concertos versus the intimate chamber music-style scoring typical of the evening soirees held by the flutist-king, Frederick ‘the Great.’

Past events and reviews:

On April 30th I performed with Newton Baroque in a concert featuring the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his contemporaries. On May 2-3 I performed two concerts with Newton Baroque and presented a lecture on Emanuel Bach’s Flute Quartets at Kenyon College, during the Meeting of the American Bach Society. My paper was entitled “The Flute Quartets of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.” In it, I discussed the genre and performs issues surrounding the three quartets composed in 1788 for flute, viola and fortepiano, works commissioned by Sara Levy for musicians in her closest circle.

My lecture-recital about Frederick as flutist, “The Flutist of Sanssouci: Frederick ‘the Great’ as Performer and Composer,” performed at the invitation of the National Flute Association in Las Vegas, 2012, received an enthusiastic review. You can read it here! Also, look for my article with the same title, which was featured in the fall issue of Flutist Quarterly 18 (2012). A Dutch translation of the article followed in FLUIT, the journal of the Dutch Flute Society.

Recent performances included a chamber recital with Newton Baroque of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Quartets for Piano, flute and viola (April 2013), and a solo recital with Andrus Madsen, harpsichord, featuring music of C.P.E. Bach, Franz Benda, and Johann Joachim Quantz in Boston (December 2012), hosted by Early Music Thursday at the First Church in Boston.

Review Quotes

Oleskiewicz performs the fast passagework of the Allegro movements flawlessly and with a sense of ease, despite arpeggios and brilliant figuration in keys such as C minor…The fine technique and musicality of Oleskiewicz, coupled with the delightful rarity of…these concerti, make this CD one that should be at the top of everyone’s acquisition list.— Early Music America (Winter 2013), Review of Johann Joachim Quantz: Flute Concertos (Naxos)